It is common for operators of parking lots, officers of law to impound vehicles for various reasons, such as non-payment of parking dues, law infractions, or car owners to prevent theft of their vehicle.
Many devices have been used for such purposes; for example, one clamp designed to be placed on wheels of vehicles may be found described in the inventor's earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,426 issued Feb. 9, 1988. However, such device is not suitable for mounting to trucks or trailers having tandem wheels disposed adjacent one another on an axle.
Tandem tire devices are known; for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,936, issued Sept. 22, 1987 to Jackson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,489 issued June 19, 1990 also to Jackson describe brake systems for tandem wheels; however, they are concerned with tires which are radially closely spaced to each other on a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,893 issued Aug. 23, 1983 to Switzer describes a locking wheel block having a pair of wheel ramps and a locking member adapted to releasably connect the wheel block to the wheel so as to prevent unwanted movement of the vehicle. It is evident that, with such block, if someone wishes to overcome the locking feature, he needs only to unbolt the outer wheel from its drum and remove the wheel thus easily obtaining access to the locking member located between the tandem wheels.